


Time Should Gurgle On

by Merlin Missy (mtgat)



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Afterlife, Extra Treat, Gen, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-03
Updated: 2014-10-03
Packaged: 2018-02-19 16:46:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2395580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mtgat/pseuds/Merlin%20Missy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Susan has a conversation with her grandfather.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time Should Gurgle On

**Author's Note:**

  * For [originally](https://archiveofourown.org/users/originally/gifts).



Susan picked herself up and dusted off her dress. She readjusted her hat and scoffed at the commotion across the busy street. "You would think some people would be more careful."

NO. I WOULD NOT.

The familiar, leaden tones were right behind her. She gave her grandfather the same worried, appraising look she always did. "Hello. Trouble again?"

THE DUTY. His voice always sounded as though it came from the bottom of a mausoleum. Only this time, more so.

Susan turned, craning her neck to see past the crowd. "Some poor fool got run over?"

YES.

She was aware of several things all at once. The primary item catching her eye was the sad lump in the street which looked as though it wore her dress, only redder.

"Oh."

She gasped, but didn't, no longer possessing lungs. Questioning what had happened was pointless. "But I was only crossing the road," said Susan with annoyance. "I must say, I was expecting to go a bit, more, well...."

HEROICALLY?

And what was there to say? She'd been Death. She knew the Duty because she had done the Duty. "I had wondered about the immortality." After a while, she hadn't, though. Like most young people in full health, and unlike most young people who had not spent a life between worlds, Susan had believed herself unstoppable. The watchmen approaching the scene of her accident, with grave faces and questions for the confused troll driving the carriage, suggested she had been wrong.

YOUR IMMORTALITY WAS PASSED DOWN TO YOU FROM ME. YOUR MORTALITY WAS GIVEN TO YOU BY YOUR PARENTS.

His face was, as ever, unreadable. After her parents' deaths, he'd run away to forget, but Death could not shirk his Duty. He would never tell her that he loved her. Love was a chemical wash caused by glandular activity. He had no capacity, and expecting a last-minute declaration of same now would be pointless.

Susan was human, though, and had just proven so irrevocably. She remembered her lover. "You will see him, of course. Please give him my apologies for being... Late."

Grandfather nodded. I SHALL.

The world was fading. She'd hardly noticed, but Susan had so often walked in both worlds. "Will you accompany me to what comes after? What does come after?" She hadn't spent much time thinking about the world after death. She knew plenty of religions had plenty of positions on the matter, but she herself had collected souls, and she had no idea.

I CANNOT. I CANNOT TRAVEL TO THE WORLD AFTER UNTIL THE END.

"Of?"

EVERYTHING.

Despite his static face, despite his lack of emotional baggage, Susan could hear the regret behind the sepulchral tone. Were she a soppy girl, she'd throw her arms around his bony neck and hug him until she dissolved away. Instead, she took a step closer, and held his hand.

"Thank you," she said, and leaned up to kiss his skull. "Thank you for everything. I will see you at the end."

Death raised his other hand, placing the cold bones against her cheek. She could feel herself fading more, becoming something other. Perhaps there would be nothing. Perhaps there would be more. Either way, she intended to see what was next, and if necessary, organise it. This was no way to run an afterlife.

Her grandfather always smiled, was proverbial for his grin. But she saw the flash of blue in the depths of his sockets, and knew he'd heard her thought. Even now, she felt his pride in her.

SUSAN?

Nearly gone now. She wouldn't be frightened. Whatever awaited her ought to be frightened at what was coming. "Yes?"

TELL YOUR MOTHER I SAID HELLO.


End file.
